Morgan Freeman has issued a completely new statement regarding accusations of harassment of which have been made against him.

“I am devastated of which 80 years of my life is usually at risk of being undermined, inside blink of an eye, by Thursday’s media reports,” the actor said in a statement to ET on Friday. “All victims of assault in addition to harassment deserve to be heard. in addition to we need to listen to them. however the idea is usually not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humor.”

In a CNN report published on Thursday, eight women — who either worked with Freeman on movie sets, worked for his production company, or interviewed him in a professional setting — alleged of which the 80-year-old actor subjected them to inappropriate behavior, including unwanted touching in addition to comments about their figure. Several of the accusers said they didn’t report Freeman’s alleged behavior because they feared for their jobs.

“I admit of which I am someone who feels a need to try to make women—in addition to men—feel appreciated in addition to at ease around me. As a part of of which, I would likely often try to joke with in addition to compliment women, in what I thought was a light-hearted in addition to humorous way,” Freeman’s statement continued. “Clearly I was not always coming across the way I intended. in addition to of which is usually why I apologized Thursday in addition to will continue to apologize to anyone I might have upset, however unintentionally.”

“however I also want to be clear: I did not create unsafe work environments. I did not assault women. I did not offer employment or advancement in exchange for sex. Any suggestion of which I did so is usually completely false.”

Entertainment reporter Chloe Melas, who co-authored the CNN piece on the accusations against Freeman, said she began reaching out to women after experiencing what she described as her own inappropriate encounter with the actor, at a press junket for his 2017 film, Going in Style.

Melas, who was six months pregnant at the time, claims Freeman looked her up in addition to down while shaking her hand, in addition to repeatedly said some variation of “I wish I was there,” as cameras rolled in front of his co-stars in addition to some other junket personnel. The reporter said she was later told of which Warner Bros. HR could not corroborate the account because only one of Freeman’s remarks was on video in addition to the Warner Bros. employees present did not notice anything.

On Thursday, Freeman responded to the accusations in a statement to ET, saying, “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would likely intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — of which was never my intent.”

However, interview footage by past ET sit-downs with the Oscar-nominated actor shows more examples of questionable behavior by Freeman. In 2015, author in addition to activist Janet Mock served as an ET special correspondent covering the actor’s film, a few Flights Up. During their junket interview, Freeman addressed Mock’s appearance, saying, “I don’t know how you all manage to do of which all the time.”

“You got a dress halfway between your knee in addition to your hips, in addition to you sit down right across by me in addition to you cross your legs,” he continued.

Mock, who is usually currently writing in addition to producing for Ryan Murphy’s completely new FX series, Pose, addressed the encounter in a statement to ET on Thursday, saying, “This particular interaction is usually an exhibition of the casual nature at which men in positions of power believe of which everything belongs to them, including women’s bodies as they’re merely just trying to do their job.”

“For me, as a young woman of colour, who is usually a reporter in addition to a fan of favorite culture, I was deeply disappointed of which someone who was seen as America’s grandfather was susceptible to such disturbing behavior in addition to felt comfortable enough to do of which as cameras were rolling, in addition to of which he could take claim of my body in addition to look at the idea before even looking into my eyes.”